The technology of this disclosure relates generally to reliability of a wireless distribution system (WDS), and more particularly to techniques for enhancing quality of service (QoS) and metrics of communication signals which may be used in a wireless distribution system.
Wireless communication is rapidly growing, with ever-increasing demands for high-speed mobile data communication. As an example, local area wireless services (e.g., so-called “wireless fidelity” or “Wi-Fi” systems) and wide area wireless services are being deployed in many different types of areas, e.g., coffee shops, airports, libraries, and the like. Wireless distribution systems (WDSs) communicate with wireless devices called “clients,” “client devices,” “wireless client devices,” or “wired client devices,” which reside within the wireless range or “cell coverage area” in order to communicate with an access point device. More generally, a client is computer hardware or software that accesses a service made available by a server. One example of a wireless distribution system is a distributed antenna system (DAS). DASs are particularly useful for deployment inside buildings or other indoor environments where client devices may not otherwise be able to effectively receive radio-frequency (RF) signals from a source, such as a base station, for example. Exemplary applications where distributed antenna systems can be used to provide or enhance coverage for wireless services include public safety, cellular telephony, local access network (LANs), wireless local access networks (wireless LANs), distributed antenna systems (DAS), location tracking, and medical telemetry inside buildings and over campuses.
Wireless communications services are expanding rapidly into an ever-wider array of communications media. Wi-Fi or wireless fidelity systems, for example, are now commonplace, used in a variety of commercial and public settings, such as homes, offices, shops, malls, libraries, airports, and the like. Distributed antenna systems are commonly used to improve coverage and communication of cellular and Wi-Fi communication systems. Distributed antenna systems typically include a plurality of spatially separated antennas. The distributed antennas systems communicate with a variety of such commercial communications systems to distribute their services to clients within range of the distributed antenna system.
These antenna systems provide efficient distribution of communications services to clients, or a set of client devices, in a desired area of a location, such as a building, an array of buildings or an even larger service area, such as an airport, an outdoor park or a stadium. Within the client area, distribution of the services may be provided by an internal distribution network that is a part of the distributed antenna system. The network may include optical fibers and conventional wired cables for distributing a variety of communications services.
What is needed is a better way to improve Quality of Service (QoS) and QoS metrics in wireless and wired distribution systems.